Aged care reforms in Australia are reshaping the entire system around a new rights‑based Aged Care Act 2024, strengthened quality standards, a new Support at Home program, and tougher regulation to implement the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s recommendations.
From 1 November 2025 these reforms are phasing in across home care and residential care, with a stronger focus on dignity, safety, transparency and sustainable funding.
New Rights‑Based Aged Care Act 2024
The centrepiece of aged care reforms in Australia is the new Aged Care Act 2024.
The Department of Health’s hub New Aged Care Act explains that the Aged Care Bill 2024 passed Parliament in late 2024 and became the new Aged Care Act 2024, commencing 1 November 2025. This Act replaces previous aged‑care legislation and “puts the rights of older people first,” creating a modern legal framework for residential care, home care and other supports.
The detailed fact sheet About the new rights‑based Aged Care Act highlights key features:
- A Statement of Rights for older people seeking and receiving aged care.
- A single entry point with clear eligibility rules and a single assessment framework.
- Stronger system oversight and accountability arrangements.
- A new regulatory model with increased provider accountability and strengthened powers for the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
- Direct implementation of 58 Royal Commission recommendations plus the government’s response to the Aged Care Taskforce on funding.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s overview, About the new Aged Care Act and key changes for providers, stresses that the new law is “very different” from the old one, focusing on empowering older people and upholding their rights, needs and choices, while changing how the Commission regulates providers and holds them accountable.
Carers NSW’s explainer Aged Care Reforms describes the Act as a “rights‑based Aged Care Act” that aims to enhance aged‑care quality and safety, ensure dignity and respect, and respond directly to the Royal Commission’s findings.
Key Reform Packages: Support at Home, Quality Standards, Regulatory Model
The new Act is part of a wider reform package rolling out from November 2025.
The Department of Health’s Aged care reforms and reviews page groups the changes into several big streams:
- New Aged Care Act 2024 – rights‑based legislation and a modern regulatory framework.
- Support at Home program – a new program that merges and replaces existing home‑care programs to deliver more flexible, coordinated support for older people who want to remain at home.
- Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards – updated standards that emphasise clinical care, food and nutrition, cultural safety and dementia care.
- New regulatory model – clearer obligations for providers and workers, expanded regulator powers, and new complaints processes and whistleblower protections.
HammondCare’s summary Aged Care Reforms explains that from 1 November 2025, major reforms will include:
- A new Statement of Rights for aged‑care recipients.
- Introduction of the Support at Home program.
- Stronger Aged Care Quality Standards and an Aged Care Code of Conduct.
- A new registration system and updated fee structures for providers.
Infinite Care’s Aged Care Reform page confirms that the start date for the new Act and associated reforms was delayed to 1 November 2025 to give providers more time to prepare, and emphasises that these changes affect both home care and residential aged care.
Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards and Oversight
Quality and safety standards are being tightened as part of aged care reforms.
Aged Care Essentials’ article Major reforms coming to the aged care industry in 2025 notes that the government will introduce strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards alongside the new Act and regulatory model. Key changes include:
- Reducing the number of standards from eight to seven.
- Consolidating and clarifying requirements under a new structure:
- Standard 1: The Person
- Standard 2: The Organisation
- Standard 3: The Care and Services
- Standard 4: The Environment
- Standard 5: Clinical Care
- Standard 6: Food and Nutrition
- Standard 7: The Residential Community.
- Introducing a dedicated Food and Nutrition Standard in response to Royal Commission concerns about food quality and malnutrition.
HammondCare’s reforms page emphasises that the strengthened standards will cover clinical care, food and nutrition, cultural safety and dementia support, and that providers will face a new grading system to encourage continuous improvement.
Carers NSW highlights that the strengthened standards and regulatory model aim to ensure aged‑care workers have appropriate qualifications and skills, and that workers will be protected by expanded whistleblower protections and updated worker screening.
The Commission’s Aged Care Quality Bulletin #1‑2026 notes that the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing is monitoring providers’ progress and working with the Commission to ensure compliance with the new Act and standards ahead of commencement.
Rights‑Based Approach: Statement of Rights and Registered Supporters
One of the most significant shifts in aged care reforms in Australia is the rights‑based focus.
The Department’s About the new rights‑based Aged Care Act fact sheet explains that the Act will set out a Statement of Rights for older people who are seeking and accessing aged care. This Statement will make clear what individuals can expect from providers and workers in terms of quality, respect, safety, information, choice and participation.
HammondCare summarises key consumer‑facing changes:
- Rights‑based approach: Older people will be placed at the heart of the system, with a new Statement of Rights clearly outlining expectations of providers and workers.
- Registered Supporters framework: Older people will be able to nominate a trusted person as a Registered Supporter to help them understand information and make decisions. Supporters must be registered via My Aged Care and follow supported‑decision‑making principles; this is separate from Powers of Attorney.
- Stronger oversight and accountability: The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission will have expanded powers, new complaints processes will support fair outcomes, and whistleblowers will receive new protections.
A Department of Health social‑media update, “The new Aged Care Act begins on 1 November 2025”, reiterates that the new law is intended to make aged care safer, fairer and more respectful by putting the rights of older people first.
Implementation of Royal Commission Recommendations
The aged care reforms are explicitly tied to implementing the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
The Department’s Progress Report: Implementation of the Recommendations of the Royal Commission details progress on all 148 recommendations, grouping actions into seven priority areas and providing a status table in Appendix A. It notes that reforms such as the new Aged Care Act, strengthened quality standards, improved funding and workforce measures are key components of the response.
The Office of the Inspector‑General of Aged Care’s 2025 summary report, Implementation of the Recommendations of the Royal Commission, concludes that “despite the volume and pace of reform, a number of actions that would have seeded transformational change have not yet been delivered.” The report acknowledges successes such as additional funding for providers, home‑care places and wage supplements, but also warns about potential unintended consequences and the need for continued oversight.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation’s submission Response to the 2025 Progress Report on Implementation of Aged Care Royal Commission Recommendations similarly states that the passage of the Aged Care Act 2024 is a key milestone, but “much work remains to be done” to ensure staffing, funding and working conditions support genuinely high‑quality care.
COTA Australia’s 2024 Progress Report response also recognises significant progress while stressing that the Royal Commission set a substantial reform agenda with tight timeframes, and that some areas—particularly home care, workforce and cultural change—still need accelerated action.
Funding, Fee Changes and Sustainable Aged Care
Aged care reforms also address how the system is funded and how fees are structured.
The Aged Care Taskforce, referenced in the new Act’s overview, provided recommendations for sustainable aged‑care funding, including how to balance taxpayer contributions and user contributions in a fair way. The new Act underpins the government’s response to these recommendations, including changes to fee structures and service agreements.
HammondCare’s reform summary notes that from 1 November 2025, reforms will include:
- Updated fee structures and clearer service agreements to ensure transparency about what people pay and what they receive.
- A new registration system for providers, improving oversight of who is delivering aged‑care services and under what conditions.
The Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, summarised on the Parliament’s Bills page, sets out consequential amendments timed to commence immediately after the Aged Care Act 2024 comes into effect, ensuring alignment of funding and regulatory settings across legislation.
CEDA’s analysis of aged‑care workforce and funding challenges (see its “Australia’s dire shortage of aged‑care workers” release) argues that achieving Royal Commission standards will require substantial, ongoing investment and difficult decisions about funding sources, reinforcing why the Taskforce recommendations and Act are so critical.
Aged Care Reforms and the Workforce
While much of the reform agenda is legal and structural, workforce changes are central.
The Department’s Aged care reforms and reviews page notes that reforms are designed to support coordinated care and services, including stronger workforce planning and investment so older people can remain at home longer.
Aged Care Essentials’ reform article outlines worker‑specific impacts of the new Act and strengthened standards:
- The Statement of Rights will include a right to receive services from workers with appropriate qualifications, skills and experience.
- The Statement of Principles will say that the aged‑care system should support workers to innovate, participate in governance and deliver high‑quality care.
- Workers will be covered by expanded whistleblower protections.
- Revised worker screening arrangements will apply, meaning providers must ensure staff meet updated background‑check and suitability requirements.
The ANMF’s progress‑report submission emphasises that for reforms to succeed, nurses, care workers and allied‑health professionals must be adequately staffed, trained, supported and recognised, warning that implementation must avoid overburdening already stretched staff with new compliance requirements without sufficient resourcing.
What Aged Care Reforms Mean for Older People and Providers
For older people and families, aged care reforms in Australia mean:
- Clearer rights and protections via the Statement of Rights and a rights‑based Act.
- Easier navigation of the system through a single entry point and assessment framework.
- More flexible, coordinated Support at Home services that help people age at home longer.
- Stronger guarantees around quality standards, especially in clinical care, food, nutrition and dementia support.
- Improved complaints processes and whistleblower protections.
For providers, the reforms mean:
- New legal obligations under the Aged Care Act 2024 and strengthened Quality Standards.
- A new registration system and grading‑style quality‑assessment regime.
- Expanded powers for the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and closer performance monitoring.
- The need to update policies, systems, governance and workforce planning to comply by 1 November 2025 and beyond.
The Department of Health’s Aged care reforms and reviews page is the best starting point for readers wanting an official overview, while resources like About the new rights‑based Aged Care Act, the Commission’s key changes for providers, HammondCare’s Aged Care Reforms, and Aged Care Essentials’ Major reforms coming to the aged care industry in 2025 give practical detail on how aged care reforms in Australia will change everyday care and provider obligations.
